National Transportation Safety Board
Aviation Accident Final Report
AEROSPATIALE ALENIA ATR 42-320
Part 121: Air Carrier - Non-scheduled
Analysis
The Safety Board’s full report is available at http://www.ntsb.gov/Publictn/A_Acc1.htm. The
Aircraft Accident Report number is NTSB/AAR-11/02.
On January 27, 2009, about 0437 central standard time, an Avions de Transport Régional
Aerospatiale Alenia ATR 42 320, N902FX, operating as Empire Airlines flight 8284, was on an
instrument approach when it crashed short of the runway at Lubbock Preston Smith
International Airport, Lubbock, Texas. The captain sustained serious injuries, and the first
officer sustained minor injuries. The airplane was substantially damaged. The airplane was
registered to Federal Express Corporation and operated by Empire Airlines, Inc., as a 14 Code
of Federal Regulations Part 121 supplemental cargo flight. The flight departed from Fort Worth
Alliance Airport, Fort Worth, Texas, about 0313. Instrument meteorological conditions
prevailed, and an instrument flight rules flight plan was filed.
Probable Cause and Findings
The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident to be:
The flight crew's failure to monitor and maintain a minimum safe airspeed while executing an
instrument approach in icing conditions, which resulted in an aerodynamic stall at low
altitude. Contributing to the accident were 1) the flight crew's failure to follow published
standard operating procedures in response to a flap anomaly, 2) the captain's decision to
continue with the unstabilized approach, 3) the flight crew's poor crew resource management,
and 4) fatigue due to the time of day in which the accident occurred and a cumulative sleep
debt, which likely impaired the captain's performance.